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Neighborhood Pond Advice #13512222 04/10/20 08:04 PM
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Jpurdue Offline OP
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My neighborhood has two 7 acre ponds that are connected by a culvert that only occassionally has enough water for fish to move between the two ponds. Fishing pressure is fairly low really. One pond is bowl shaped and 80% of it is 25+ feet deep, the other is much shallower on the whole with only one deep hole that goes to about 15 feet. Both ponds hold a super healthy bass population. My average fish out of there is 2-3 lbs. I can usually catch 5-8 in an hour of fishing. I've caught plenty of 4's and a few 5s. The biggest fish I personally know of being caught was just shy of 8 lbs, but I've heard plenty of chatter from old timers in the neighborhood double digit fish are occassionally cauhgt out of these ponds. The ponds have largemouth, crappie, blue gill, channel cats, mud cats, grass carp, freshwater drum, giant tilapia (up to 4lbs) and some kind of gar (spotted I believe) and shad. Anyway, I've caught all these species and every fish has seemed super healthy. There's zero grass in either lake. The were impounded in 2004.

All that said, here's the question. Should I be removing the giant tiliapa, gar, and the grass carp when I catch them? The bass population seems great at the momment, but the populations of these fish seem pretty high to me. Any advice, or should I just not worry about fixing what isn't broken?


"Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley." -A.L.

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Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Jpurdue] #13512626 04/11/20 02:26 AM
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You know what "they" say..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Sounds like a great set up...but in spite of what "they" say I would personally remove all the gar I could. Assuming the grass carp are sterile, I'd probably leave them alone...but if they are not triploid, then yes I would remove them. The Tilapia...that's really interesting. They must be surviving the winters in that 25+ hole, or at least some of them. I would remove every Tilapia over 4 pounds because of research I've seen that showed large, adult Tilapia can become consumers of fish eggs. Also, every catfish would be on my list for removal.

What an interesting situation.

Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Jpurdue] #13512801 04/11/20 08:45 AM
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Watch this guy. Now, he goes to other places and fishes for exotic species, but far and away his bread and butter is going to local ditches and ponds in the Houston area. Some of the fish he pulls out are insane.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94AoWq2bvwYmwBp3fotjbg


BIG C

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Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Meadowlark] #13515630 04/13/20 12:14 PM
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Jpurdue Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Meadowlark
You know what "they" say..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Sounds like a great set up...but in spite of what "they" say I would personally remove all the gar I could. Assuming the grass carp are sterile, I'd probably leave them alone...but if they are not triploid, then yes I would remove them. The Tilapia...that's really interesting. They must be surviving the winters in that 25+ hole, or at least some of them. I would remove every Tilapia over 4 pounds because of research I've seen that showed large, adult Tilapia can become consumers of fish eggs. Also, every catfish would be on my list for removal.

What an interesting situation.


Thanks for the advice. I catch a tilapa or two almost every time I go out. They are usually of 3.5-3.75 lbs. They almost seem to be clones. Strangly I've never caught a small one.

There are a bunch of gar in there. I had no idea how many until this spring when I saw them spawning. Of course the challenge there is they don't really bite artificial lures. I've only actually caught 1 incidentally on an artificial lure.


"Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley." -A.L.

www.LunkerLore.com

Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Big C] #13515633 04/13/20 12:18 PM
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Jpurdue Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Big C
Watch this guy. Now, he goes to other places and fishes for exotic species, but far and away his bread and butter is going to local ditches and ponds in the Houston area. Some of the fish he pulls out are insane.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94AoWq2bvwYmwBp3fotjbg


Thanks for sharing. I saw that 12 he caught a while back on Youtube, I did not know he was from Houston!


"Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley." -A.L.

www.LunkerLore.com

Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Jpurdue] #13578601 06/01/20 07:26 PM
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Agree on pulling out the big tilapia. Unless you are dedicated you won't catch enough of the gar to make a difference. The more cats you pull, the more biomass space you free up for bass and crappie.

Re: Neighborhood Pond Advice [Re: Jpurdue] #13581184 06/03/20 05:53 PM
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Osbornfishing Offline
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It appears the fish in the lake are healthy. Removing fish from a pond depends on the desired goals. If the pond is being managed to grow trophy bass, then you manage one way. If it is to increase fish numbers, then you manage another way. There are anglers that enjoy catching a gar or catfish as much as other anglers enjoy catching bass.

Typically, the number of fish a single angler catches will not affect the overall population of the lake. So, if you want to harvest some fish then feel free to do so. Catfish are gamefish and you have to utilize the meat if you harvest them. Grass carp (not common carp) and tilapia are invasive species in Texas and should not be in the lake unless they were stocked with a permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife. I would remove all of the tilapia you catch and they are really good to eat. Grass carp may have been stocked to manage vegetation.

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